


Year One

by phroobin, Telenovela



Series: 3 Years [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/M, M/M, Marauders, Marauders' Era, Slow Burn, University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2018-07-15 16:22:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7229827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phroobin/pseuds/phroobin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telenovela/pseuds/Telenovela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first year of a queer and modern day Marauders University AU<br/>(featuring move ins, first meetings, fights, drinking, card games, secrets, and forming true friendship)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Year One

It was a muggy afternoon – the kind where the air is thick with the promise of a storm and electricity crackles over bare skin exposed only to stave off the heat.

A slender, pale arm dusted with freckles hung lazily from the window of the Ford Fiesta MK4 that puttered slowly down the motorway, the breeze ghosting over flesh with a feather-light touch as the car rolled along the tarmac. The owner of said arm was one Remus John Lupin, a world-worn boy with purple smudges beneath his eyes and a port-wine-stain splashed from above his right eyebrow to just beneath his left cheekbone. He was semi-dozing in the space between the door and the neatly stacked boxes of bedding, towels, books, kitchen utensils, canned foodstuffs (he was more than sure that he was never going to run out of tomato or minestrone soup), and whatever else he and his parents had decided were appropriate university supplies.

Remus’s free hand was curled protectively around a clunky camera that sat heavy in his lap – a Bronica ETRS, his true pride and joy – handed down from his grandfather to his father and finally to him on his 16th birthday. Photography had been his escapism from a young age; he’d spent so many years under the microscope being watched, tested, medicated, that having the chance to put something else (someone else) in front of the lens had been a welcome way of relaxing and removing himself from the stress of being ill.

He pulled his arm back inside the vehicle, smiling sleepily as the grandiose HGWRTS campus (an acronym for the university’s full name that had long since been forgotten) crested on the horizon. Remus licked his lips at the sight; the campus was a promise of a new life, a fresh start. It was the embodiment of everything he had been told he might not be able to reach. He sighed contentedly, lungs rattling, and promptly burst into a coughing fit.

“I’m fine, Mum,” he murmured once he’d cleared his airways, sensing the worry radiating from his parents in the front of the car. He shot them what he hoped was a reassuring look into the rearview mirror. “And I’ll be fine here.”

His mother, Hope (an odd choice, Remus often thought, given that she relied more on logic than she did her namesake) made a soft clicking noise with her tongue and put her feet on the dashboard, her head falling to one side as she watched the motion-blurred-kaleidoscope of the world outside rush past them. The butterscotch light of an early autumn afternoon caught her hair and lit up her profile as it flooded the car with warmth. She smiled gently as her husband hummed along to the radio.

Remus took a breath of sweet air as he wound his film on, cocked the shutter, and fired.  


* * *

  
The actual moving in part, Remus reasoned, had not been too bad. He suspected this was because he was a day early – his parents had wanted to avoid the hustle and bustle of hundreds of students making the university campus their new home, and when Remus had realized it would mean nobody seeing his illness reflected in medication, oxygen canisters and emergency wheelchair he had to unpack, he’d had no complaints.

They’d introduced themselves and collected keys from a cheerful looking girl in a red and gold striped jumper at reception. The colouring clashed with her ginger hair, freckle-speckled cheeks and green eyes, but she looked too happy to care as she announced that she was in charge of early Gryffindor movers.

“That’s the accommodation block you’re in,” she’d explained in a thick Welsh accent as she spun his keys around her index finger, cocking her head and grinning. “Green and silver is Slytherin, blue and bronze is Ravenclaw, and yellow and black is Hufflepuff,” the girl (whose nametag read ‘Lily Evans, 1st year, Psychology’) continued, motioning to the three other jumper-clad students loitering in the vicinity. “There’s a competition between us all during Fresher’s… team based activities, you know? The winner of each event gets points for their block, and the block with the most points at the end gets free drinks for the year at the campus bar.” 

Remus had given her a weak smile, then, unconsciously gripping his camera a little bit tighter.

“That’s... not really my scene I’m afraid. I’m sure it’s fun for everyone else, though.” 

“Yeah, masses of drunken teenagers don’t really appeal to me much either... something about the idea of being catcalled at 2am as I walk home, I think.” She had laughed lightly, though Remus noted the anger simmering behind her eyes at the sentence she had uttered. He made a mental note not to get on her bad side as she slung her backpack over one shoulder and pocketed Remus’s keys before slipping back into business mode.

“Anyway, you’re actually in one of the flats opposite me, so I can walk you all down there? You’re the last early mover for Gryffindor so my shift’s technically over. Besides, this way you’ll know where to bring the car around to unload your stuff and it means you won’t get lost on campus.”

His parents had taken Lily up on her offer enthusiastically, thanking her over and over again for her kindness as they walked. She’d waved the praise off with a smile as she eyed the slowly darkening sky and announced rain was coming (Remus’s mother had asked how she knew, and she’d responded with a very sombre “Wales”) before increasing her pace. Remus had blanched at the change, his lungs protesting a little as they made their way to his front door, and upon arrival, he had slumped against the railing to catch his breath.

 Lily raised a delicate copper eyebrow as she watched him, amusement colouring her tone. “Unfit, are we?”

“Yeah, something like that,” he’d replied, giving his parents a half wave as they started back for the nineteen years worth of his life that were packed into their stuttering, spluttering Ford Fiesta.

 The rain broke as Lily passed him his keys and motioned to the flat.

 “After you.”

* * *

  
Unlocking the door to the new life that Remus had been told he could never have felt like transcending, and he was mildly surprised that a beacon of heaven-sent light hadn’t started shining down on him on the momentous occasion. His hand shook slightly as he pressed the metal into the keyhole and turned it; the door swung open on its hinges, and warmth enveloped Remus and Lily instantly.

“I didn’t know we’d unlocked a portal into the fucking desert!” Lily exclaimed at the blast of heat. She made a rasping noise as they stepped across the threshold and wandered down the hallway. Her eyes glinted as she brought her hands up to her throat. “I need… water...”

“Can you hold out for a couple more seconds? If we can make it to…” He glanced down at the tag on his ring of keys, eyes scanning for his room number as he played along, “…room four there should be shade. Don’t give up on me now, we’re so close!”

Lily laughed, peals ringing out bright and clear through the hallway as they walked together, stopping in front of his new room.

“Open it together?” She asked, tipping her head to look at Remus. Her hair fell to one side and a brilliant smile danced across her be-freckled face as the light from the hallway haloed her outline. Remus thought about how many boys would kill for her in this moment, the waterfall of pillar-box red hair cascading over her shoulders, green eyes sparkling mischievously, the easy rapport they’d built up so quickly, and Remus smiled.

“It would be my pleasure,” he answered earnestly. “Stay like that for a minute, though? I want to commemorate this moment.”

He mentally weighed up which camera would be best for the situation and settled on the Polaroid, pulling it gently from one of the many cases slung around his shoulder. He charged the flash and took a step back; Lily beamed a little brighter and tipped her head a little further, her hand resting on the handle to his room, and Remus fired.

 Putting the camera back and the photo into his pocket to develop, he laid his hand atop hers and together they pushed open the door.  
 

* * *

  
The world seemed to slow his room was revealed, and Remus felt like he was floating as he ghosted inside. He ran his fingertips over the laminated wood of the desk, touched the chair, opened all the draws in disbelief, flipped lights on and off, cupped his hands to his mouth.

“Calm down, Remus, it’s just a room,” she laughed. He turned to her, tears in his eyes, and the laughter stopped, replaced instead with concern as peered at him. “Shit, are you okay?”

Remus looked up at her and wiped his cheeks roughly. “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine. I just spent so long being told I couldn’t get here, that this wasn’t a life I was going to be able to have and now? Now I’m here,” he looked around the room again, motioning with his hands, “in my own room, at university, on a course I’ve dreamed of for years.”

“Why were you told you couldn’t achieve this?”

“I um, I’m…” Remus started, the question hanging in the air between them, so tangible he could have reached out and touched it. He’d spent 20 minutes in Lily Evan’s presence, laughing and joking with her, almost spilling his secret. _She probably some kind of super-power that makes you feel at ease_ , he thought. _She’s studying psychology, after all._

A thudding at the door startled him out of his brief spell of vulnerability and back into reality. “Sorry, that’ll be Mum and Dad… I should go and help them.” He smiled weakly. “I’m alright, I promise.”

Lily’s face fell a little but she nodded. “I’m gonna go drop my bag off at my flat and have something to eat and then I’ll come back to unload your car, okay? I’ll let your parents in on my way out.” Remus started to protest but Lily had already ducked out of the room, leaving him talking to a closed door. He sighed, rubbing a hand across his face as he took a couple of minutes to compose himself, and slowly rose from the bed to lend his parents a hand.   
 

* * *

  
The rain began properly as Remus and his parents unloaded his boxes of books. The fat drops plastered Remus’s hair to his forehead, running in rivulets down his cheeks as he attempted to shelter his reading material with his body. Thunder rumbled distantly.

“At least we got your clothes and bedding in before it started tipping it down!” His Dad had grinned, and Remus had had to concede the point. “All that’s really left is kitchen supplies and your medication, so it’s not too bad. It was a good idea of yours to get your oxygen in first,” Lyall continued as his son stopped to catch his breath inside. He put a hand on Remus’s shoulder as his wife looked on with concern beside the car boot. “Are you alright?”

“Are you alright?”

“He’s fine,” Lily answered for him, appearing like an angel with no fashion sense in a bright yellow raincoat and red wellingtons. “Let me get that for you,” she murmured softly, taking ahold of the container Hope stood with in the rain. Her mouth moved as she read the label on the box wordlessly, frowning a little at the writing as she hefted it inside, Remus leading to clear the way for her. 

“Don’t be alarmed, please,” he murmured, heart fluttering wildly with nerves as he shouldered open the oak door. Amongst the boxes, suitcases, and crates, stood several oxygen canisters propped up in one of the corners, a wheelchair sat folded by the radiator and an odd looking machine that had replaced the bedside table.

A soft, shocked sound left Lily’s lips and Remus drew a deep breath, knowing she wanted to ask but not overstep. He coughed a little, his lungs protesting. 

“It’s a veritable tableau of illness,” Remus started tiredly, closing his eyes and leaning against his desk. He was silent for a while as he calculated whether it would be easier to explain, mentally ticking over the pros and cons of having at least one ally. 

Exhaling as deeply as was possible, Remus made his decision.

“I have Cystic Fibrosis, Lily. I don’t know if you ever learnt about it in biology, but it’s a genetic disease that means I have mucus in my lungs and digestive system that makes it hard to breathe.” Remus opened his eyes, peeking up at her through his lashes and watching as she sat down on his bed. He was interested to note that he didn’t feel as panicked telling her as he thought he would.

“That’s why I have the oxygen canisters and the medication you’re holding. That’s why you can hear rattling when I breathe in, it’s why I cough a lot, it’s why I struggle with exercise and it’s… why I thought I’d never make it here.” He sighed softly, pinching the bridge of his nose and opening his eyes properly. Lily unfolded herself from her place on the bed, setting the medication down in her place, and crossing to stand in front of him. She took his hands in hers gently.“Thank you for feeling able to tell me, I can’t imagine how hard it must have been when you’ve clearly been trying to conceal it but we’re friends now.” 

“Thank you for feeling able to tell me, I can’t imagine how hard it must have been when you’ve clearly been trying to conceal it but we’re friends now.” 

“Oh are we now?” Remus chuckled despite himself, ”Do I have any choice in this?”

“Nope. You’re stuck with me now. And now that you’re stuck with me, I want you to teach me how to help you with your meds and machines. Let me know how to help you when you need it.”

There was a pause as her words sunk in and he nodded, dumbstruck that anyone would care enough to offer to help, especially after such a short period of time. When he spoke, Remus’s voice was soft and it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. “I haven’t really had friends before… thank you.”

“Well, you have now,” Lily laughed, letting go of his hands and looking around the room. Her green eyes settled on the crate of damp books and she began them up on his shelves. Remus watched her carefully for a minute, acutely aware that he was going to have to re-order them later.

“So, is there anything else you want to drop on me?” Lily asked, jokingly, as she moved one of Remus’s plants gently to get to a stray book.

Remus grinned wryly, eyes glinting mischievously, and settled himself further back on his desk.


End file.
